How many pitches have you done for your business this week? You are at the next stage of the business and you need to find funding to take it to the next stage. You can’t scale without it. What type of funding is right for your business, angel, seed, crowdfunding, the series alphabet?
You should meet Michael Wilkinson, he is an investment manager that you want to meet. He is a lovely chap with a passion to help people reach their goals when the traditional banks are not able to help them and for companies that want to engage with their tribe. He is part of the team at the crowdfunding platform Crowdcube. He is well versed in the investment eco-system and can guide you to determine what type of funding is right for your business.
Check him out on youtube where he is striving with IngeniusJames to help small businesses access high-quality and relevant information.
Crowdcube empowers entrepreneurs to bypass traditional business angel networks, venture capital firms and banks to secure funding by connecting directly with the public. Since its launch in 2011 it has successfully secured over £42 million pounds of investment in UK businesses and has over 100,000 registered members. According to Management Today, Crowdcube came of age in 2014
I cannot speak highly enough of Michael, he is a talented young man that would make you feel envious if he wasn’t such a lovely person. He has obviously spent a lot of time learning his trade and finding out where he can best advise his clients. He spends a lot of time with people in the early stages of their business helping them make the right decisions and connecting them to people who can help them. You can see why he fits in with us!
Stuart Lucas, Asset Match Ltd, is one who has experienced first-hand Michael’s drive to help others succeed. “Michael has been our main interface during our Crowdcube fund-raise. At all times he has been; knowledgeable, helpful, polite, responsive, and not afraid to suggest ideas and concepts that might benefit our efforts. We thank him and would recommend his services to other users and wish him well for the future…”
Michael is the first to admit that crowdfunding may not be for everyone, but, with the flexibility of the platform and technology changing all the time, he is at the forefront of making it more widely suitable for as many businesses as possible.
When looking for investment, it is not all about the money. You need to have a good relationship with the person who is happy to invest in your business, who agrees with your passion as well as bringing pragmatism, experience and knowledge. Michael has this in spades and as a conduit between your funders and you, he can help you aim higher.
He is often found passing his knowledge on when he can, he has been at Happy Hour, Social Media Week and in March will be at The Landing, with a Q&A session. If you want to understand funding, you want to get yourself down there and ask some questions.
Michael is such a lovely chap, based down in the West Country he comes to London when he needs to and is proof that you don’t have to be in London all week to be part of the disruption!
Ghilaine
@LadyGhilaine
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